Innovative 15yo wonderkid from Sierra Leone gets a chance at M.I.T.

I’ve written about kids with extraordinary sense of creativity and innovative minds. Especially Caine Monroy, the nine year old boy behind “Caine’s Arcade” here.

Now, this other kid, 15-year-old Kelvin Doefrom Sierra Leone proves that he is extraordinary as well! Living in West Africa, he searches junkyards and trash to find broken electrical devices, of which he can build his own machines.

His creations are all made with the intention to do good. Take his live radio station: a homebrew FM transmitter made from scratch! He goes by the name DJ Focus, because he believes, that if you focus, you can invent anything. The power supply in the village he lives in, only works once a month, therefore he has created his own battery, to keep his inventions from black out. His biggest dream is to build a windmill so that he can provide power for his family, friends and loved ones.

This phd.-guy from MIT sees his potential and invites him for a three-week visit, as a part of the “Prodigies”-program. The goal is to learn from each other…a two-way learning process, and from Kelvin Doe, MIT can experience why this young boys mind is a clear example of how anything can be constructed out of nothing!

The question is: By taking the kid “out of Africa” – so to speak, is that the right thing to do? Won’t it be wrong to remove him from his “underground”-roots – away from innovational thinking and into conventional mainstream thinking.

In my opinion, a three-week visit at MIT won’t hurt anybody :) That place only got one main agenda: Innovation!

Martin,
Just a courtesy note to let you know the story about Kelvin Doe (aka DJ Focus) is featured on the website fingerprintprojects.com along with many other stories about – cool stuff kids do – from around the globe. The site curates stories about amazing things kids do, that make a positive dint in the world.
I also have written about Caine’s Arcade and a number of other projects that will be of interest to you and your readers.
Warm regards
Trudy